Fried chilli baby corn is a common Indo Chinese fusion side and snack. It features sweet and tender pieces of baby corn, battered and fried to crispy perfection. The corn is then tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce for a delightfully flavorful, crunchy, and saucy veggie dish. The sauce for this recipe is so good. You’ll seriously want to eat this bold, sweet and spicy chilli baby corn with nearly everything! The texture and taste of this chilli baby corn is similar to a Tso’s tofu you might find in some Chinese restaurant menu. This is one more vegan and vegetarian friendly snack, with an even spicier and bright flavor, like this Chilli Mushroom recipe. Below you’ll find my step-by-step photos and instructions for preparing the best chilli baby corn from scratch. I shallow fry the corn here; however, you are welcome to deep fry the battered corn pieces if you prefer. Make a batch as an appetizer, side dish with Veg Fried Rice, Noodles or just as a hearty snack. However you choose to fry and serve, I am sure you will love this satisfying chilli baby corn!
How to make Chilli Baby Corn
Preparation
- First, rinse the 18 to 20 baby corn or 200 grams (about 1 cup) in water. Then drain and pat them dry. If they are long pieces of baby corn, cut them in half.
- I recommend that you next prepare all of the ingredients for making the fried chilli baby corn sauce:
Finely chop 5 to 6 medium sized garlic clovesPeel and chop 1.5 inches of gingerSeed and thinly slice 1 small capsicum (green bell pepper)Slice or slit 2 to 3 green chilliesChop ½ cup of spring onion whites (scallion whites)
Making Batter
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl combine 4 tablespoons of all purpose flour, 4 tablespoons of cornstarch (cornflour), ¼ teaspoon of black pepper, ¼ to ⅓ teaspoon of salt or add as per taste, and 4 tablespoons of water.
- Mix well to form a smooth, medium-thick batter.
Batter Coating and Frying Baby Corn
- Now add 6 tablespoons of frying oil in a wok or deep, large pan over medium heat. Work one at a time to dip each baby corn piece into the batter to thoroughly coat. Slide the batter-coated baby corn around the edges of the bowl so that excess batter drips back into the bowl.
- Gently place the batter-coated baby corn pieces in the hot oil. Be careful during this step as the oil can splatter. Note that in the video I have pan fried the baby corn in less oil. You can either pan fry, shallow fry or deep fry.
- Use a slotted fry spoon to gently turn the pieces over when they become golden.
- Continue to turn back and forth as needed, until the baby corn pieces are brown on all sides.
- Remove with the slotted spoon, allowing the excess oil to drain.
- Set the fried corn on kitchen paper towels. Repeat the frying process with the remaining baby corn pieces.
Stir Frying Aromatics
- You can use the same oil from frying the baby corn to now fry the aromatics. With a spoon remove extra oil from the pan keeping only 1 tablespoon oil inside the pan. Or, if you prefer, pour in 1 new tablespoon of oil in a new pan. Set the stovetop temperature to medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic, ginger, green chiles, and the white parts of the sliced spring green onion.
- Increase the heat to medium-high, and stir fry for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Now add the sliced capsicum (green bell pepper). If you don’t like or have capsicum, feel free to skip.
- Mix and continue to stir fry for 3 to 4 minutes on medium-high heat, until the capsicum is half cooked but still crunchy.
Adding Sauces & Seasonings
- Now reduce the heat back to medium and add 2 teaspoons of soy sauce and 1 teaspoon of either sweet green chili sauce or sweet red chilli sauce. You can add more chilli sauce for a spicier version.
- Mix well.
- Taste, and then add ¼ teaspoon of black pepper, ½ to 1 teaspoon of sugar (more or less to taste), and salt as needed.
- Mix again.
Making Chilli Baby Corn
- Now add the fried baby corn to the pan.
- Gently mix together, being careful to not scrape the batter from the fried baby corn. Note that you could stop here if you prefer a highly crispy and crunchy baby corn texture. But if you want a smooth glazed sauce coating on the baby corn then proceed to the following steps.
- Now add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water and mix again.
- Then sprinkle on 1 teaspoon of cornstarch (cornflour). This gives a lovely, smooth glaze to the dish – just like at your favorite Indo Chinese restaurants.
- Mix well and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, or just until the cornstarch (cornflour) has cooked and is no longer visible.
- Mix in ½ a teaspoon of rice vinegar for a slightly tangy flavor that brings the whole chilli baby corn recipe together. You can also use apple cider vinegar in place of rice vinegar. If you are not a fan of the tangy vinegar taste then skip it.
- Lastly, add the sliced green onion tops, and stir again.
- Serve hot as an appetizer or a side with your favorite Chinese main dishes. You can eat chilli baby corn as it is or with a spicy dipping sauce like chilli-garlic sauce, schezwan sauce, sriracha sauce and even a plain simple tomato ketchup. Garnish with an extra sprinkle of the sliced green onions. Few more snacks recipes for you!
Cheese ballsChilli mushroomGobi manchurianMushroom manchurianBaby corn manchurian
Please be sure to rate the recipe in the recipe card or leave a comment below if you have made it. For more vegetarian inspirations, Sign Up for my emails or follow me on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter. This Chilli Baby Corn recipe post from the archives (May 2013) has been republished and updated on 2 June 2021.
title: “Chilli Baby Corn " ShowToc: true date: “2024-09-16” author: “Eric Mchenry”
Fried chilli baby corn is a common Indo Chinese fusion side and snack. It features sweet and tender pieces of baby corn, battered and fried to crispy perfection. The corn is then tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce for a delightfully flavorful, crunchy, and saucy veggie dish. The sauce for this recipe is so good. You’ll seriously want to eat this bold, sweet and spicy chilli baby corn with nearly everything! The texture and taste of this chilli baby corn is similar to a Tso’s tofu you might find in some Chinese restaurant menu. This is one more vegan and vegetarian friendly snack, with an even spicier and bright flavor, like this Chilli Mushroom recipe. Below you’ll find my step-by-step photos and instructions for preparing the best chilli baby corn from scratch. I shallow fry the corn here; however, you are welcome to deep fry the battered corn pieces if you prefer. Make a batch as an appetizer, side dish with Veg Fried Rice, Noodles or just as a hearty snack. However you choose to fry and serve, I am sure you will love this satisfying chilli baby corn!
How to make Chilli Baby Corn
Preparation
- First, rinse the 18 to 20 baby corn or 200 grams (about 1 cup) in water. Then drain and pat them dry. If they are long pieces of baby corn, cut them in half.
- I recommend that you next prepare all of the ingredients for making the fried chilli baby corn sauce:
Finely chop 5 to 6 medium sized garlic clovesPeel and chop 1.5 inches of gingerSeed and thinly slice 1 small capsicum (green bell pepper)Slice or slit 2 to 3 green chilliesChop ½ cup of spring onion whites (scallion whites)
Making Batter
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl combine 4 tablespoons of all purpose flour, 4 tablespoons of cornstarch (cornflour), ¼ teaspoon of black pepper, ¼ to ⅓ teaspoon of salt or add as per taste, and 4 tablespoons of water.
- Mix well to form a smooth, medium-thick batter.
Batter Coating and Frying Baby Corn
- Now add 6 tablespoons of frying oil in a wok or deep, large pan over medium heat. Work one at a time to dip each baby corn piece into the batter to thoroughly coat. Slide the batter-coated baby corn around the edges of the bowl so that excess batter drips back into the bowl.
- Gently place the batter-coated baby corn pieces in the hot oil. Be careful during this step as the oil can splatter. Note that in the video I have pan fried the baby corn in less oil. You can either pan fry, shallow fry or deep fry.
- Use a slotted fry spoon to gently turn the pieces over when they become golden.
- Continue to turn back and forth as needed, until the baby corn pieces are brown on all sides.
- Remove with the slotted spoon, allowing the excess oil to drain.
- Set the fried corn on kitchen paper towels. Repeat the frying process with the remaining baby corn pieces.
Stir Frying Aromatics
- You can use the same oil from frying the baby corn to now fry the aromatics. With a spoon remove extra oil from the pan keeping only 1 tablespoon oil inside the pan. Or, if you prefer, pour in 1 new tablespoon of oil in a new pan. Set the stovetop temperature to medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic, ginger, green chiles, and the white parts of the sliced spring green onion.
- Increase the heat to medium-high, and stir fry for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Now add the sliced capsicum (green bell pepper). If you don’t like or have capsicum, feel free to skip.
- Mix and continue to stir fry for 3 to 4 minutes on medium-high heat, until the capsicum is half cooked but still crunchy.
Adding Sauces & Seasonings
- Now reduce the heat back to medium and add 2 teaspoons of soy sauce and 1 teaspoon of either sweet green chili sauce or sweet red chilli sauce. You can add more chilli sauce for a spicier version.
- Mix well.
- Taste, and then add ¼ teaspoon of black pepper, ½ to 1 teaspoon of sugar (more or less to taste), and salt as needed.
- Mix again.
Making Chilli Baby Corn
- Now add the fried baby corn to the pan.
- Gently mix together, being careful to not scrape the batter from the fried baby corn. Note that you could stop here if you prefer a highly crispy and crunchy baby corn texture. But if you want a smooth glazed sauce coating on the baby corn then proceed to the following steps.
- Now add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water and mix again.
- Then sprinkle on 1 teaspoon of cornstarch (cornflour). This gives a lovely, smooth glaze to the dish – just like at your favorite Indo Chinese restaurants.
- Mix well and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, or just until the cornstarch (cornflour) has cooked and is no longer visible.
- Mix in ½ a teaspoon of rice vinegar for a slightly tangy flavor that brings the whole chilli baby corn recipe together. You can also use apple cider vinegar in place of rice vinegar. If you are not a fan of the tangy vinegar taste then skip it.
- Lastly, add the sliced green onion tops, and stir again.
- Serve hot as an appetizer or a side with your favorite Chinese main dishes. You can eat chilli baby corn as it is or with a spicy dipping sauce like chilli-garlic sauce, schezwan sauce, sriracha sauce and even a plain simple tomato ketchup. Garnish with an extra sprinkle of the sliced green onions. Few more snacks recipes for you!
Cheese ballsChilli mushroomGobi manchurianMushroom manchurianBaby corn manchurian
Please be sure to rate the recipe in the recipe card or leave a comment below if you have made it. For more vegetarian inspirations, Sign Up for my emails or follow me on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter. This Chilli Baby Corn recipe post from the archives (May 2013) has been republished and updated on 2 June 2021.
